Does my opinion make me wicked?

I read an article in Wednesday’s Times Union that has been taking up too much space in my head since. Farmlife isn’t alleviating the headache of it, and I’m putting it here to ask what you might think. And, to find out if my opinion makes me a wicked and evil person.

According to the story, in December 2007, a dog mauled an 11 year old girl. The incident occurred in North Greenbush, when the girl was visiting her uncle, Steven Agar. “The girl required 2,700 internal stitches and 300 external stiches to close her head wounds and almost lost her ear…”

The article also stated, “The town seized the animal and sent it to be housed at the Mohawk and Hudson River Humane Society in Menands where the animal remains caged.”

The dog’s owner, Steven Agar, and his lawyer, Mark Portin, are fighting to keep the dog alive. “A nearly year-long legal battle over the future of a dangerous dog has cost the town nearly $8,000 in boarding fees.”

HEL-LO, is this for real? Shoot the dog, for pete’s sake, before the boarding fees add up to $20,000. Who the heck makes these laws? 2,700 internal stitches and 300 external stitches on an 11 year old girl? $8,000 – if I’m not mistaken, will be the responsibility of the town’s taxpayers? HEL-LO??? Anyone there?

For $8,000 that dog could be boarding with Cesar Milan.

Here’s the thing. I am an animal person. No doubt. 24/7, 365 days a year, rain, snow, illness, doesn’t matter. I love animals, I spend many hours training them, caring for them, and loving them. I’ve gone above and beyond when necessary, and my relationships with them define me. I’ve had to let go of the sick, old, and dying. Some losses are certainly harder than others. But, it’s life, and life is not always pretty, or fair. In farmlife, as much as I think of myself in a fairytale world, feet planted firmly in hard work and responsibility, I’m also a realist.

Over the years I’ve certainly learned, and been reminded that, as much as I (and many animal owners) like to assume that animals think like people, the fact is that they do not. It is difficult for many to accept.

I found this article very disturbing and incredibly sad on many levels.

$8,000 – to board a dog that mauled a child. Am I the only one who finds this twisted?

If I had an animal that did that, I would shoot it (okay, for the sake of propriety, I would take it to a vet and have it ‘humanely’ put down). Does that make me wicked? Helping an obviously unhappy animal get to Heaven? I’m sure there are details that I don’t know, but for me the facts that I read in the article speak loud and clear.

Personally, I think that the girl’s uncle (Uncle???), Steve Agar, ought to be in the kennel with his dog, or perhaps the dog should be put under house arrest and live with the lawyer.